In 2007 Wollongong City Council partnered with the Migration Heritage Project group to prepare a Migration Heritage Places Study for the City of Wollongong. This study explored the significant role of migrants in the development of Wollongong and the places and sites that demonstrate heritage values associated with migrants. The study proposed two key listings relevant to migrant history. These include:
- The former Berlei Clothing Factory (now Southern Pathology building) in Denison Street Wollongong which provided employment for many migrant women following their arrival to the area. The former Berlei House building was described as the most modern factory in Australia when it opened in October 1945 and is a good example of the architecture style as ‘Functionalist’, stream lined with modernist references.
- The Pious Society of St Charles Sacred Heart Church in Stewart Street Wollongong recognises the diversification of religious buildings and places and is a significant place for many in the Italian community. The building was erected in 1966 by an Italian Priest of the Scalabrini Fathers, as a Sacred Heart War Memorial Chapel and was dedicated to the memory of Italian soldiers who died in both World Wars (Irving 2001). The building was designed and built by contractors of Italian origins and is one of a large number of churches servicing religious groups of migrant origins withing the CBD.
A number of additional sites are proposed to be listed as Migrant Heritage sites which fall outside of the City Centre study area boundary as part of the broader Wollongong Heritage Schedule Review project. This is being progressed separately to the City Centre study.
